Autumn
by crazyguitargirl
Summary: When a new girl moves to Gravity Falls and becomes friends with Dipper and Mabel, they find out something amazing about her, and have to fight to defend the secrets of Gravity Falls. I own nothing.
1. Chapter 1

_These trees are hidden deep within the woods, and have the power to-_

"Autumn Davidson." _Snap._ "Your book?"

Ms. Greene, my ELA teacher, the bane of my existence, holds out one hand to take my book, the other grasping a meter stick.

"Am I in trouble?" I clutch my book.

"May I remind you that this is the fourth time this month that I caught you reading during class?"

"Yeah," Kelsey Brown, the most popular girl in the school, and the other bane of my existence, adds. "You better stop misbehaving, Autumn."

"You shouldn't be one to talk, Kelsey. I've caught you breaking the rules much more than Miss Davidson has."

_Davidson 1, Brown 0. _

"So, Autumn," Ms. Greene asks again, "Your book?"

"Can't I just keep it?" My knuckles are turning white from how hard I'm holding on to the book. "It's the last day of school. I promise to pay attention."

Ms. Greene sighs. "Since it is the last day, you won't be in trouble, and you can keep the book. But put it away, or else you'll have an automatic suspension at the beginning of next year."

"Thank you, Ms. Greene," I say, as if it matters if I get suspended. It's not like I'm going to still be here by the fall.

"Just do not disrupt the rest of the class. We must get through this lecture to prepare you for your 7th Grade classes."

I don't pick up anything from the rest of the lecture. I think I fall asleep for a while, because when the bell rings, I'm confused why I'm not in the forest running from vampire cheerleaders.

I'm shoving my books into my faded green book bag when Kelsey walks up to my desk.

"So, what were you reading that was so important?" She smirks. "Another pathetic 700-page fairy-meets-dragon series written for third graders?"

I look down at the maroon book sitting in my lap. The gold hand on the cover gleams in the fluorescent classroom lightning, the number 1 prominently announcing itself from the palm.

"Sure," I grin. "Let's go with that."


	2. Chapter 2

The moment I walk through my front door, my mom says the all-too-familiar 9-word-sentence.

"Autumn, I have some news to share with you."

It's not any different than the last dozen times she said that. It would surprise me more if she didn't have any news to share.

"What could it be this time?" I ask while spreading some peanut butter on a piece of bread. "Let's see, the last 12 times you told me that, we were moving, so this must mean…" I pause, and then say with sarcastic enthusiasm, "We won the lottery!"

"Autumn, honey, I know these moves are hard for you," my mom starts.

"I haven't had any friends since Move Number Four," I mutter, digging around in the fridge for an apple.

She ignores it and keeps talking. "But your dad's job requires us to move around a lot. And I think this is healthy for a-"

"Healthy?" I almost choke on my snack. "Mom, having friends is healthy. Living on food other than cafeteria slop is healthy. But moving? Moving is like having a cold in the middle of the summer."

"Moving is good for you. You've traveled around the states. And you've met so many people-"

"Didn't we just discuss how I don't have any friends? All of the girls hate me. They make fun of me for everything."

"What could anybody make fun of you for?"

"For starters, being the new kid." I roll my eyes.

"There are plenty of girls that have to start at new schools," My mom points out.

"Yeah, but nobody moves here. They've been friends since they fought over the last bottle of chocolate milk in preschool."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating."

"I'm not. And they make fun of my clothes." I look down at my loose jeans and slightly-too-big long sleeved brown and orange tie dye shirt. The thermometer on the wall outside reads 85 degrees. "They think I'm hiding something because I don't dress like the school is the beach."

"You don't have to listen to what some mean girls say."

"I do when everyone is refusing to hang out with me because of the rumors they spread."

Silence. My mom, for once, has nothing to say.

"They also tease me because of my hair." I clutch the light brown strands, pulling out some strategically placed leaves- the work of Kelsey Brown. "And this," I say, waving the leaves on the table.

Mom looks confused, so I try to explain.

"They've called me 'Tree Girl' since one of Kelsey's followers found me reading in the forest. It's not even clever!"

I can tell my mom is going to say something, but I keep talking.

"And the worst thing they tease me about is the reading." Once I start rambling, I can't stop. "I'd be surprised if they knew how to read anything but Teen Vogue. And they call me a loner for reading at lunch instead of trying to impress guys by failing at playing basketball. Yeah, just because I don't want to look like an idiot by playing something I don't even want to do makes me a loner. I was caught reading in class today and-"

"Autumn Louise Davidson, you were reading in class?"

"That's not my point!" I claim. "Everybody is a jerk to the new kid. Can't we just stop moving around all the time?"

"Autumn, you know what we can and can't do."

"Whatever." I grab my green book bag and start running.

The forest has always seemed sort of like a home to me. Home has started feeling less like home since we started moving around a lot. We've lived in every type of house, apartment, and shack imaginable, from a 2-bedroom apartment in the city to a big farmhouse with tons of gambrels in the country to a Romanesque mini-castle in Boston. I'm not even sure what kind of house is normal for people to have, but it's definitely not anything that we've had.

But the woods never change. There's always dirt and fallen leaves and pinecones; there's always some sort of little stream; there's always crushed beer cans and Target bags; and there's always the tallest tree with the best view.

Slinging my book bag over my shoulder, I start climbing the big tree. My favorite move was California- even if you can't climb the redwoods, trees are just taller there.

When I'm on the highest branch, I remember my other favorite thing about the woods- being alone. From up here, I can see my parents; I can see the school; I can see Kelsey and the popularity queens. But they just don't seem like a part of my life.

I take inventory of my bag. A can of lemonade; a flashlight; patches of cloth and a needle in case the bag gets another hole; a jacket (though it's not necessary since it's June); half a bag of Nacho Cheese Bugles; a five dollar bill; six quarters; four dimes; a nickel; binoculars; and seven fantasy books.

Even from up in a tree in the woods I can smell my dad's cologne. It smells like pine trees and burnt coffee. The routine goes the same way every day- I pull on my binoculars, my mom goes outside to greet my dad, they go back inside, and I get called in for dinner. I never go in- I wait until I know that my dad is preoccupied in his office and my mom is reading in her room. Then I sneak in and heat up a hot pocket.

Today is no different. I wait for my part of the routine to start and in the meantime, I get lost in Eragon.


	3. Chapter 3

"Here we are!"

My mom jumps out of the car like it's on fire. She runs up to our new house.

"This is our new house?" My eyes widen.

The house, which is a small log cabin, sits on top of a massive rock formation. On top of a waterfall.

"Since when do we live in Fallingwater?" I ask curiously. "Isn't that in the forest somewhere?" There's not a tree within a half a mile radius.

"And what about the town?" I turn around to face my dad, who has a giant grin on his face. "I thought you worked in marketing. It doesn't look like there's a marketing office anywhere."

"I used to work in marketing." The grin on my dad's face widens. "Autumn, welcome to Gravity Falls."

"Gravity Falls?" What a genius name, but slightly familiar. I pull out my book, and there it is on the first page: My Studies of Gravity Falls.

So this town…is paranormal? Gravity Falls really has mysterious, amazing secrets that I know all about? That's so awesome! That means I could run into fairies and elves and dragons and-

_Wait! Stop! My parents don't know about this!_

I mask my curiosity and ask a random question. "But what's your job now?"

My dad grins and flexes his barely-there muscles. "I'm a lumberjack now!"

"What?" My jaw drops. I didn't know that actually happens outside of cheesy Clique books, but it just did. "Dad, how did you get a job as a lumberjack? Have you ever cut down a tree?"

"Who do you think built the cabin?" The grin on his face is so big; I'm surprised that his face isn't splitting up into tectonic plates.

"You built that?" _What?_ "You do know that you could get a huge job as an architect, right?"

"No more suit-and-tie jobs, Autumn." He puts his arm around me. "I like this job better."

I realize something. The reason for all of the moves was his job. If this move wasn't because of that, and he switched jobs…

"Dad, does this mean that we're not moving anymore?"

"Isn't it great?" My mom wraps her arms around me. I can't breathe. "You were talking about how you don't want to have to start over again and again."

"Okay, so that's true," I admit.

Nobody has anything to say. It almost feels like everything is settled. Like fake peace. But there are still a lot of questions to answer.

The cliff gives us an amazing view of the town. I'm up at least three times higher than I've ever been climbing trees.

Then I throw my arms out, gesturing over the cliff. "But, if you're a lumberjack, why do we live so far from the forest?" The nearest tree is at least a mile away.

Dad's face falls. "Autumn, I thought you'd be thrilled to live in such a scenic town. You haven't heard about most of it. This town has a forest that's filled with secrets. Supernatural creatures, mysteries, amazing sights…"

I knew that already. But it still was amazing to hear. My dad kept talking, and while he did, I felt my eyes growing wider and wider. When I felt like they would burst, he chuckled.

"Those are the Autumn eyes." He says. Big, amber eyes. When I was little, they were huge all of the time. Heck, they still are. Huge eyes full of wonder, like North from Rise of the Guardians. It would be cool to be a guardian.

"And one more thing. I think you're going to like it." My dad comes and sits down on a rock with me. "The man who gave me this job- Manly Dan, they call him- he has a teenage daughter. Three years older than you, but you'll probably end up spending some time with her when we're out."

"Sounds good," I smile. "So, are you going to show me the house?"

Dad grins. He gives me a tour of the house, including the glass-bottom room over the waterfall. My room is the highest point of the house, looking over the whole town. I see a huge blue tent with cars parked around it, a cluster of small buildings in the town, a little diner, an A-frame cabin with a big glittery sign on top, and a massive forest.

There's something different about this town. I think I'm going to like it here.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I'm not much of a disclaimer person, but I'm going to put one up now.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Gravity Falls, do you think I would put everybody through that hiatus?**

**And thanks to everybody for rating and reviewing; I'm just getting started!**

**One more thing: this story takes place sometime during June of the same summer that Dipper and Mabel got here, during Season 1 somewhere after Summerween, but before any of the "season-ending-cliffhanger" stuff. Autumn moves to Gravity Falls a few weeks after Dipper and Mabel do. Basically, this story takes place during that stretch of time where normal episodes take place. **

The house is empty. My dad left for the forest a few hours ago; he said his boss's daughter Wendy would be by soon to meet me before she goes to work. Either way, I'm alone, with nobody in at least a mile radius.

The entire town seems really small from up here in my room. I haven't gotten to explore the forest yet. Maybe I'll find one of those creatures that seem to be here.

How do you prepare for a creature hunt, anyway? I'm searching for a flashlight in the millions of boxes when I hear the front door open.

"Anybody home?" The voice of a teenage girl echoes through the house.

"Up here!" I yell.

A minute later, a tall girl with red hair and muddy boots appears in my doorway.

"Hey," she smiles. "I guess you're Autumn. I'm Wendy."

"Hi." I turn back to the box and grope around in it for the flashlight.

"So, you're dad's working for mine now." I hear Wendy sit down on my bed. The springs creak, along with the frame and the floor.

"Yeah, and that means I'm stuck here." My hand closes around something warm and rubbery.

"You get used to it," she shrugs. "A couple of new kids moved here earlier this summer."

I nod, pulling out the warm, rubbery object. It falls on the floor to reveal a bottle of warm, curdled milk leaking on my hands.

I scream and jump back.

Wendy looks surprised. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." I wipe my hand off on a towel from the top of one of the boxes. "Keep going."

"Anyway, I've seen some pretty weird stuff. I work at the Mystery Shack. It's a museum about the crazy stuff going on in this town- the log cabin with a huge glittery sign on top of it. I actually have to get going soon."

My eyes widen when she mentions the Mystery Shack. "Can I come? I love fantasy stuff."

"Most of it is fake," she says, rolling her eyes. "But I think you would like Dipper and Mabel. They work there. How old are you?"

"I'm twelve," I admit. **((Author's note: Autumn doesn't really feel like she's any age- she's sort of lost in time, so it feels weird when she talks about being twelve.))**

"You're the same age as them." She stands up. "Let's go."

"Are we walking?" I ask. The path leading down the rock formation that the house sits and the bridge over the river would take up about a mile. Then comes the forest, which is a couple of miles long before we get to the shack. It would take a half an hour if we walked.

"No, I came in the golf cart. It'll take five minutes."

"Cool." I grab my book bag.

"Hey, you're new in town." She tosses me the keys. "Do you drive?"

The golf cart comes to a shaky stop in a dusty parking lot. I step out, still feeling shaken, mentally and physically.

"That was mentally traumatizing," I stutter, grabbing a totem pole for support.

"Are you kidding?" Wendy claps her hand on my back. "That rocked!"

"Rocked," I clarify. "As in, we ran into several rocks. Huge ones. Boulders!"

"You get used to it. The boulders are the best part." She presses the button on the keys, making the traditional _'beep beep'_ sound.

"I didn't think golf carts did that."

"This is Gravity Falls. Everything is different here." Wendy sits on the edge of the building's porch. "For example, the soda has peach pits in it, the candy makes you high, and if you dance for the pizza man, he'll put peanut butter on your order."

"Seriously?" I ask. "I've tried peanut butter on my pizza. It's actually pretty good."

She laughs. "The part about the soda and the candy was true, but one time my friend Thompson danced for the pizza man, and the pizza guy threw a flowerpot at him to make him stop."

"That must have hurt."

"He was knocked out for two hours. I think he's okay," She frowns, "But sometimes we catch him muttering to himself."

Her confused expression disappears, and she gestures for me to come inside. "Come on, I want you to meet Dipper and Mabel."

The inside of the shack is no more supernatural than the outside. There are oddities, but most of them are just glued together stuffed animals.

A boy and a girl my age are sitting at the counter. They're deep in conversation, but the conversation isn't deep.

"Mabel, I was not watching Twilight!" The boy goes slightly red. "I was…making sure it was appropriate for you to watch."

"Keep telling yourself that, Dipstick." The girl pokes him. "But I know that you're a Team Jacob."

"Really?" Wendy laughs. "I would've taken you as a Team Edward."  
"Oh, h-hey Wendy." The boy says nervously. "W-who's this?"

"Guys, meet Autumn. She just moved her, and her dad works for my dad." She turns around and faces me. "Autumn, this is-"

"Let me guess." I point at the girl, who flashes me a brace-face grin. "Mabel, and…Dipstick?" I raise an eyebrow curiously, waiting for an explanation.

"Dipper Pines." He corrects. "We moved here recently, too."

"But not too recently to think the stuff here is real," Mabel adds. "Nobody's here. Do you guys want to go into the den?"

"Ugh, I've gotta man the register." Wendy grabs a magazine marked Indie Fuzz. "But you guys have fun."

Dipper opens a door with an 'Employees Only' sign on it to reveal a living room with a huge yellow chair in the center. An old man in a fez, a tank top, and boxers is sitting on it, scratching his (extremely hairy) butt.

"Kids, who's this?" The man asks. My eyes widen and I back away slowly. "Aw, no! I'm scaring away money- I mean, a customer!"

The man throws a smoke bomb and disappears. I cough. My eyes water.

Mabel shoots me a sympathetic look. "I'm really sorry you had to see that."

The man shows up in the doorway a minute later, this time wearing a suit and an eye patch.

"I'm Stan Pines, the owner of this establishment." He throws his arms out. "Welcome to a world of mystery!"

Dipper rolls his eyes. "Don't waste your money. Let's go up to the attic."

They lead me up the stairs to a sloped-ceiling room with two beds. It's not hard to tell who gets each side of the room- one side is extremely messy, with posters plastering the walls and glitter everywhere, and the other side is nearly empty, and the blue bedspread is neatly made.

"Nice place," I comment.

"Thanks!" Mabel flashes another grin. "I decorated it."

"Clearly." Dipper adds.

"You guys should see the view from my house. It's so cool."

That led to a lot of talking about the town. Mabel and Dipper said that they hadn't been here long, but they've already learned a lot about what goes on here. A few hours pass, including a personal tour of the Mystery Shack's 'oddities'. Everybody was right- everything in the building _is_ fake, but the twins assured me that there are plenty of real things in this town.

"I should probably get going," I admit around six. "My dad will be getting home soon. But it was great to meet you guys. I can come back tomorrow."

"Bye!" Mabel grinned.

"See you later, Autumn." Dipper says.

Days went by with the same routine- Wendy would come pick me up; I'd almost barf on the golf cart ride; Dipper, Mabel, and I would spend all day in the attic; and I'd leave at six. It seemed like it would be the same thing all summer- until one faithful day. **(Ha ha. Get it? That's a line from the first episode.) **


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm still not used to the golf cart," I stumble around, looking for the porch. "Why do we have to go so fast?"

"It's a new record!" Wendy states. "Today it only took 3 minutes and 47 seconds to get from your house to the Shack!"

"You say that like it's a good thing."

Inside the Mystery Shack gift shop, Mabel is sitting at the register, reluctantly draining a tourist of their money, while Dipper is sitting on a chair, reading a book.

"Hey Dipper," Wendy says happily. "Whatcha reading?"

"Huh? Oh, hey, Wendy!" He attempts stuffing the book onto a nearby bookshelf and leans against it. "Nothing. I mean, I'm not reading anything." He laughs nervously.

"Alright." Wendy shrugs it off. "I guess it's back to the salt mines, then."

But I noticed something. When Dipper put the book on the shelf, there was a flash of gold on the cover. A familiar flash.

"Dipper, what were you really reading?" I ask.

"What? I wasn't reading anything!" He throws out his arms, knocking over the bookshelf, scattering all of the books, and sending up a plume of dust.

"Smooth work, Dippingsauce." Mabel laughs.

I walk over to where the book fell, picking it up to reveal a hand with the letter 3 inscribed in it.

"Dipper Pines…what have you been up to?"

"I can explain!" He yells. "It's Greek Mythology! It's by Rick Riordan!"

"Calm down!" I whisper. I grab his arm. "Let's take this somewhere else."

"This-this is amazing!" Dipper paces around the attic floor like he has for the last fifteen minutes since I told him about my book. "You've had the first book all along?"

I nod.

"How was it outside of Gravity Falls?"

"Honestly, I didn't even know this town existed until a week ago." I shrug. "I sort of though the town was just…made up."

"Oh, man, all of this is just…" He scratches his head. "Look at this! I'm losing hair!"

"Why are you worried?" I ask. "This is so amazing!"

"Dipstick always worries." Mabel shoves him. "Part of why we got into the whole thing with the books."

"Wait…" I realize. "Who has Book 2?"

"There are a few theories floating around." Dipper slides a magazine across the floor towards me. "The prime suspect…"

The back cover of the magazine has a short boy with big white hair and a blue suit plastered on it. The words 'Lil' Gideon: Child Psychic' are in big white letters above the picture.

"Ugh, he's such a creep!" Mabel exclaims. "He doesn't deserve that book."

"So, do we try to get the book?"

"No way." Dipper shakes his head. "Gideon may be insane, but he's dangerous. We'll get the book when it's time."

"We need to make a promise." I decide. "A pact. We need to swear our secrecy."

"Okay." Mabel agrees. "Hands in the middle."

I grab one of Dipper's hands. He blushes.

"I promise to never tell any of this to anybody, no matter the circumstances." Mabel says.

"I promise." Dipper adds.

There is a pause.

"Autumn?"

"I promise."


	6. Chapter 6

This is starting to feel like any other summer, except it's way better. Meaning, nothing weird has happened, but I actually have friends.

Today must be a record temperature for the state of Oregon- the cheap wall thermometer measures up to over 100 degrees. Since it is _way_ too hot to stay in the stuffy attic, Dipper, Mabel and I are playing in the sprinklers outside. Mabel literally knitted herself a swimsuit, and Dipper put on swim trunks but refuses to take off his shirt like every other 12-year-old boy would.

Halfway through testing each other's theory over whether water balloons or water guns are more effective by splitting into teams (me and Mabel pelting Dipper with water balloons while he hits us with a hard, steady stream of dirty water), a figure approaches.

"Why, Dipper and Mabel Pines!" He says in a southern drawl, "What a pleasure to see you! And who might this be?"

"Go away, Gideon." Dipper rolls his eyes. "Didn't Grunkle Stan put a restraining order on you?"

"Loopholes, marshmella'." He pulls out a thick document. "Loopholes. The article states that I mustn't come within two hundred feet of Stanford Pines. I believe he's out running errands."

The twins stare daggers at the short boy. He smiles with fake innocence.

"Now, you two never introduced me to your guest." Gideon steps closer to me. "What is your name?"

"I'm Autumn." I say, trying out the same glare as Dipper and Mabel used. "But it's summer. So why don't you just act like I'm not here?"

"Well, it is very nice to meet you, Autumn." He takes another step towards me. I push him away and put my hands on my hips.

"Did you just come by here to see two girls in swimsuits?" I ask. "Because if you are, trust me, I've met people who could set up another restraining order."

He giggles. His laugh sounds like broken glass. "Why, of course not! I just came by to say hello. I heard there was a new girl in town. I wouldn't want you getting tangled up with the…wrong people."

_Wrong people?_

With that, he leaves. Mabel and Dipper step back into my line of sight.

"Ignore him, Autumn." Dipper says. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

The fight continued until it was proven that water guns are, in fact, more effective if you blind your opponents with muddy water and pop all of their balloons while they have no vision.

"Let's go back inside." I shiver. The temperature dropped as it got later, and now it's in the seventies.

The Shack provides a warm atmosphere as we put our clothes back on. It feels sort of weird to say _we_ instead of _I_ now- I haven't been part of a group in a long time.

"Hey, Autumn." Wendy puts down her magazine. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," I say. "Have you met that Gideon kid?"

"I haven't, but Dipper and Mabel have told me enough about him." She answers. "He seems like a short creep with tall hair."

"That's pretty accurate." I laugh.

The deal that we worked out was that I drive to the Shack in the morning, Wendy walks back to my place with me at six, and her dad picks her up when his work is over and my dad gets home.

Sometime during the walk home, Wendy asks, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Do you think Dipper has a crush on you?"

I laugh, but then get serious. "No, of course not! Why would you think that?" **(Author's note: He really DOES NOT have a crush on her. This was just something I wanted to clarify: this is NOT a Dipper x OC fic.)**

She shrugs. "You guys hang out a lot."

"Mabel's there, too." I say. "And we're just friends. If anything, he might have a crush on you."

She laughs at this. "Yeah, right. I'm dating Robbie, anyway."

I shut myself in my room once I get home. Wendy doesn't seem to mind- she's texting Robbie from the couch in the living room. I sit on my bed and read from my book.

The time just keeps passing by. I read through everything about this town: ghosts, zombies, something about a monster made out of candy. I hear the front door open and my parents come in, but I stay in my room reading.

Sometime between when I heard my parents go into their bedroom and when my dad starts snoring loudly, I come across a page that I hadn't seen before.

_Dryads_, it proclaims on the top in messy handwriting.

Dryads? I think. What are dryads?

_I have come across some dryads hidden within the forests of Gravity Falls. They can be hard to find and identify, because they often pass for normal teenage girls or blend in with their trees._

_ You might not have heard of them, but you know more than you think._

What? This is the first time that I've ever seen the book address the person reading it.

Then something happens that I'm even more surprised by. Where there used to be blank space on the page, writing starts to appear.

_ Dryads have a love for nature and fantasy. They find that they are in their element in the forest. They can feel like they don't fit in with normal life._

I don't have time to think about what I just read, because the writing keeps appearing.

_You might feel that you are related to these traits…_

_ …because you are._

_ Autumn Davidson, you are a dryad._

I'm a _what?_


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm really sorry for the long wait for this chapter, guys. I would have made it shorter, but I couldn't figure out how to without leaving another (more annoying) cliffhanger. But this chapter is really long, and I'll have the next one up soon. Thanks for the reviews and follows, guys! Keep telling me what you think, because I'm not completely sold to this chapter.**

_Dryad_. Dry·ad. /ˈdrīˌad/ (noun). In folklore and Greek mythology. A nymph inhabiting a forest or a tree.

I looked it up in the 1976 dictionary in the Gravity Falls library. I found a picture in the mythology books. I slammed my head against the bookshelf for not knowing and mentally slapped myself for slamming my head against the bookshelf.

My head is full of questions, each of them swimming around in my brain, but none of them have answers. How could I not have known that I was a mythical creature? Why didn't my parents tell me? So I'm a tree nymph, huh? I guess that explains why I like the forest so much. And it explains why I like climbing trees, and fantasy books, and maybe why I found the book in the first place. Maybe being a dryad is what led me to Gravity Falls, and how I met-

_Dipper and Mabel! _

They talked about how they know all about the weird stuff going on in this town- maybe they'll have some answers.

I run to the Mystery Shack, clutching the journal like my life depends on it. The business is closed today, meaning Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy don't need to be there, but Dipper and Mabel are since they live there, and Soos is always hanging around.

"Guys!" I yell, running into the gift shop. The bells from the door ring as I skid to a stop on the wood floor and narrowly avoid the cash register by bumping into Soos.

"Whoa!" I bounce off of his stomach. "Sorry, Soos."

"It's okay, dude." He pats his belly. "Feels good."

"Hi Autumn!" Mabel says, spinning around on a globe. "What's up?"

"I found out something really big." I answer. "Let's go up the attic. We need to talk about this."

I feel like I'm about to burst while I'm walking up the stairs, but I manage to hold it in until Dipper and Mabel are on their beds, Dipper holding his 3 book and Mabel with Waddles balanced on her feet.

I'm sitting on the floor grinning like an idiot when Dipper breaks the silence.

"So, what are you waiting for?" He asks. "Tell us what you found out about!"

I explode, with all of the information spilling out. I open my book and show them. Once I've said everything I know, the twins' eyes are as big as mine usually are.

"Can I see that?" Mabel picks up the journal and flips to the page that I was talking about. She wrinkles her brow in confusion. "What the last part there before?"

"What?" I lean over to look at the writing, and there on the bottom of the page in bright red ink is a new paragraph.

"Let me see." Dipper grabs the 1 book and reads the newest inscription. "It looks like a spell. You should try reading it, Autumn."

"Okay," I take a deep breath. "Here goes."

I close my eyes and speak the magic words slowly.

_"Phystrathm flogetarta onewertale."_

"Whoa!" Dipper and Mabel's voices join in unison.

"I don't feel any different…" I look down. "Oh. That must be it."

Instead of my normal long sleeved T-shirt and jeans, I'm wearing some sort of green toga-like thing. It's tied by a gold waistband and ripped a little near the bottom. I can feel some sort of laurel wreath on my head.

"That's it?" I mutter. "It's a pretty ineffective spell."

"Does this mean you're magic?" Dipper asks, and then abruptly slaps his forehead. "It makes sense now!"

"The fact that I'm a dryad is sort of old news."

"Not that." He turns to face his sister. "Mabel, I was wondering why we didn't have to deal with monsters since Autumn got here. We had to face a creature every day, and things were so normal because there was already something fantasy related in our lives!"

"Are you saying that I'm a monster?" I put my hands on my hips, and feel some paper tucked on the inside of the waistband.

_Initiation_, it reads. _Center forest. Three o'clock._

"Guys, what time is it? I apparently have plans at three."

I show them the paper. Their digital alarm clock proclaims that the time is 2:45.

"I guess I should get going."

"We should come with you." Mabel smiles.

"I don't know if that's a good idea-"

"I think it _is_ a good idea." Dipper stands up. "Let's go together. Mabel and I can hide during the initiation parts. We can just lead you there and help you get back."

I sigh. We head out into the woods. Even though nobody is out to see us, we'd probably look pretty weird: a boy with a strange birthmark on his forehead, a girl wearing a neon sweater in the hottest part of summer, a creature from Greek mythology, and a pig.

"Why have we been walking so long?" Dipper fusses, reading his journal. "We should be at the center of the forest by now."

"Cheer up, Dippingsauce." Mabel pokes his face, causing him to make little whimpering noises.

"That looks like it." I point to a little circle of the forest where the trees part and a beam of light seeps through.

"What?" Dipper squints. "I don't see anything different."

"You mean there isn't a clearing right over there?" I ask.

Mabel shrugs. "Must be some sort of weird separator thingy so that you can see it but we can't because we're normal."

She smiles the entire time that she says that.

"I'm going to try going in."

I run towards to clearing, vaguely aware of the twins yelling for me to come back. As I pass into the light, a blue electric force field flickers. I turn back, and I can't see Dipper and Mabel anymore.

"Autumn!" Dipper's frantic voice calls. "Can you hear us?"

"Autumn!" Mabel yells. "Where did you go?"

"I'm over here!" I call out, but I don't think they heard me, because there is no reply.

"Hi!" A voice from behind me says. I jump from being surprised.

"Oh!" I turn around. "Sorry. Hi. I'm Autumn."

"I figured," the girl says, twisting her brown hair on her fingers. "There was something going around about a new dryad coming today. I'm Willow."

"I'm guessing that you're a dryad too?" She's wearing a toga that looks almost the same as mine, and she has a laurel wreath on her head. And there's the fact that she was named after a type of tree.

"Uh-huh!" Willow nods. "I'm sort of like the head dryad. There's a bunch of us."

Once she says that, tons of dryads walk out from behind (or inside of?) trees.

"We're all pretty shy," She admits. "We haven't had a new member in ages."

"New member?"

"Let's take a walk. I'll explain how everything works. And I want to show you your tree!"

"_My_ tree?"

The forest seems sort of different, now that I know that I'm a part of it. It seems pretty easy to navigate, like I can't get lost anymore. Everything is brighter and magical.

"You must have some questions," Willow says, breaking the silence that started to form.

"The biggest one is, how to the book contact me?"

Willow smiles and pulls out a piece of paper. The writing on it is identical to the writing I found in the journal.

"This is how we contact new dryads." She explains. "Whatever is written on the paper corresponds to whatever is written in the book."

"Okay, that makes sense." I say. "But what exactly does the spell do?"

"You use the spell to go between your normal and full dryad form."

"What's the difference?"

"You can use some plant magic when you're in full form." She points towards the ground. "Watch; this is really cool."`

Right where she was pointing, a bright purple flower sprouted out of the ground, followed by a few more.

"Wow, that _is_ cool!" I say in shock. "I can do that?"

"Perks of being a tree spirit!"

After a few more minutes, Willow stops walking.

"This is your tree." She walks to a big oak. It's nice, but a few feet shorter than the other trees in the forest.

"Cool." Then I ask, "Why is it a little smaller?"

"Your tree is linked to your age. You're the newest, and also the youngest, so your tree is shorter."

"How old are you?"

"Dryad age is a strange thing." She frowns. "You're twelve, so nothing strange has happened yet. But once you reach your teenage years, you age slower. Around seventeen or eighteen, you stop aging altogether. I was born in the 1920s, but I look about seventeen."

"So, does that mean the dryads live forever?"

"Almost." Her frown becomes deeper. "Everything is linked to our trees. If our trees are cut down…" She slides her finger across her neck.

"Oh." I look down, sad because of the talk about death, then I remember all of the cool things about magic and immortality. "Well, it still seems like it's really amazing to be a dryad."

"It is." Willow perks up. "The whole thing comes with some amazing powers, but there are limitations."

"Like what?"

"When you're in dryad form, you can't get too far from the forest," she explains. "You can switch between forms at any time during the day, but at night, you're stuck like this. So, if you live too far away, which you do…"

"I have to sleep in the forest?"

"It's not as bad as you're imagining," She says quickly. "You sort of…join with your tree, and you fall asleep once you do. When you wake up, you transfer out, and you're free to leave."

"Was that a pun?"

"Not intentionally."

~~~~~~~~~~After initiation~~~~~~~~~~

I barely have been outside of the circle of light for one second when I'm tackled by a blur of purple yarn and brown hair.

"Autumn!" Mabel screams. "Are you okay?! Where were you?! We were so worried, you just sort of disappeared, and you were gone for an hour, and Waddles was so worried, too!"

She moves over to reveal the pig running in circles and frantically oinking.

"I'm fine," I assure her. "I'll tell you all about it."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys!**

**This is where the story is really going to start getting interesting, so don't forget to follow! We put out new videos every Wednesday. Say bye Spiderman!**

**(Anybody else get that reference? No? Just me? O-okay, just read the chapter.)**

The screen door to my house bangs closed. Now that I'm back in my normal form, there's nothing keeping me from telling my parents about my strange secret.

Both of them are sitting at the kitchen table; my mom with her hands folded, and my dad wearing a flannel shirt and jeans; way different than the way he dressed before this move.

"Hi." I smile awkwardly and sit down. "I have something to tell you."

"We have news, too," My dad says. "My job is going to start requiring me to work different hours."

"So…you're not going to be here at different times?"

"I'll be leaving around six, which is when I usually get home." He explains. "And I won't be home until about nine o'clock in the morning."

"I'll be gone, too." Mom adds sadly. "It's safer to be in a cabin near him while he's working."

"Both of you are going to be gone at night?" I ask.

They nod.

Or telling my strange and amazing secret could wait.

It's cold, it's dark, and I'm alone. What else is new?

Then again, being in the forest at night looking for a very specific tree isn't exactly weird for me, is it?

_There it is_, I think, shivering slightly because of the stupid ancient Greek clothes.

I can't remember past that- I woke up and started walking to the Mystery Shack.

"Hey, guys." I walk in on Mabel and Dipper watching a rerun of Ducktective.

"Hey." Both pairs of eyes are fixated on the screen. The room is almost silent.

"This isn't going to affect anything, is it?" I ask. "You know, the whole…new thing?"

"Of course not."

They weren't lying. The rest of the day went exactly the same as any other.

"Random dance party for no reason!" Mabel yelled. She jumped on the bed and did some sort of combination between Gangnam Style and the Macarena.

I rock back on my heels. "I don't really dance."

"Neither do I." Dipper agrees.

"Yeah you-"

"Not this again!" He groans.

"-do!" Mabel, for some reason, started making sheep noises.

"You guys are so weird." I laugh.

"Says the tree." Dipper points out.

"Touché." I check the clock. "It's almost sundown. I should get going."

"Bye!" Mabel keeps dancing.

"See ya." I turn to her twin. "…Sheep boy?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." He says quickly.

"Okay." I walk out of the shack, almost stopped by Stan trying to sell me something.

The sun sets over the tops of the pine trees. I feel myself changing to full form and sigh.

"Why, hello!" A voice calls out of nowhere. I jump, and then relax when I see who it is.

"What do you want, Gideon?" I ask with an eye roll.

"I saw you all alone and decided to accompany you." He answers. "It's not very safe for a young girl to be in the forest at night."

"I'm _older_ than you!" I storm off, not even knowing if that is true.

"Wait!" Gideon runs towards me. His hair bobbles when he runs. "I was just wonderin' 'bout what you were wearing." He tilts his head. "I believe Summerween has already passed?"

"Summerween? What? Just leave me alone, Gideon!"

"For now, Autumn. But I'll be back." He backs away into a shadow (where did a shadow come from in the middle of a clearing?). "This isn't the last you'll see of little ol' me."

** Okay, sorry for the long break, guys. I've been writing other stories and non-fanfiction stuff, and then I went to Hawaii. But I got back, and I'm going to be updating regularly every Tuesday, despite the fact that the top says Wednesday, because that's just Jenna Marbles.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Get ready, guys!" Mabel yells. She then throws a huge balloon over to me, Dipper, Candy, and Grenda, who are all waiting for it to hit us.

"Ha!" Dipper says, raising the inflated plastic like it's a trophy. "It's mine!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Grenda charges Dipper head-on, followed by the three of us.

"Hey!" He protests. "Stop that!"

"Never!" I scream, running at the balloon. I hit it so hard, it pops. White foam explodes everywhere.

"What?" Grenda squishes some of it in her hands.

"Oh, god, that's gross." Dipper attempts to rub it off of his body.

"Shaving cream?" I raise my eyebrows at Mabel.

She stands there with a huge grin on her face. "Keep guessing!"

Ignoring us telling her not to, Candy brings some of the white foam up to her mouth. "Whip-ped cream?" She asks. **(Her broken English causes her to say some things differently.)**

"Uh-huh!" Mabel's grin widens.

"Mabel, why would you fill that balloon with whipped cream?" Dipper asks, swatting away Waddles, who is trying to lick some of it off him.

"Does it have some sort of symbolism?" I question.

"What does it mean?!" Grenda screams.

"What?" Mabel responds. "You guys are overthinking it. Whipped cream in balloons doesn't mean anything!"

"It does now!" I proclaim. "From now on, whipped cream shall symbolize friendship! Just as lambs symbolize Dipper…"

"Will you quit that?" He automatically replies.

"I'm this close to getting it out of you."

"Friendship attack!" The three girls say in unison. While I was trying to get the secret out of Dipper, Mabel, Candy, and Grenda had located the rest of the whipped cream, and were now spraying it everywhere.

"Hey, stop that!" Dipper tries to hide behind the cash register.

"Hang on, I have an idea!" I run off towards the kitchen.

"You're leaving me alone?!"

"You're a boy! Be tough!"

I skid to a stop in front of the fridge, swinging the door open. I finally find what I was looking for and grin.

"I'm back!" I announce. "Balloons versus Guns II: Revenge."

I hoist the carton high above my head, enjoying the gasps from the other side of the room.

"She's got eggs!" Mabel says in shock.

"DUCK AND COVER!" Grenda jumps in front of the two smaller girls, blocking them.

"We fight back!" Candy shoots out one long strand of whipped cream.

"Ammo!" Dipper pelts a few eggs. His tosses are way off and sort of pathetic, but they work.

A few minutes into our food fight, the door to the gift shop jingles open. Everybody abruptly hides their ammo and tries to act natural until we see who it is.

"Howdy!" Says the short southern boy.

"Gideon!" Mabel nearly yells. "Why do you keep coming here? Are you stalking us?" She prepares to shoot at him.

"Hello, peach dumpling." He winks. "I know you still love me. It's okay; you don't have to hide it." To which she rolls her eyes and lets a dollop of whipped cream squirt out.

"Who ar-e you?" Candy asks, following suit.

"Why, I'm Gideon Gleeful, town psychic!" He answers, appalled. "You haven't heard of me?"

"Look, buddy," Grenda forcefully wraps her arm around his neck. His face begins to turn the same color as his suit. "If Mabel says that you're not a good person, then most of the time you're not. You better explain yourself!"

"My goodness!" Gideon coughs, breaking free. "I just stopped by to give you these." He passes a small red box to Mabel. She opens it to reveal several small chocolates in the shape of cauldrons. "For my love; I figured she deserved something as sweet as she is."

"Don't eat them!" Dipper warns her. "They're probably poisoned!"

"Now, why would I poison her?" He shoots daggers at Dipper. "Try one- they're imported."

_I've seen this before…_

"Go on," Gideon urges, ever-so-slightly touching his amulet. "No harm comes from love."

_Love? _I realize. _That's it!_

Mabel reaches into the box, as if being controlled, and pulls out a candy. She almost has it in her mouth before I yell, "Stop!"

"Huh?" She shakes her head, as if she was in a trance. Her eyes look down at the chocolate, confused.

"I've read about this part a million times." I pull the box from Gideon's hands and throw them onto the ground. "From Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There's a love potion in those chocolates, isn't there?" He's in shock, but not in denial. "Wow. You really need to be more original."

"Thanks, Autumn. I wouldn't want to spend forever loving him." Mabel stomps on the box. "Die, die, die!"

"Hasn't she made it clear?" Dipper asks angrily. "She's never going to date you!"

"Yeah!" Grenda adds. "She already has a boyfriend!"

"She is in love!" Candy finishes.

"Just go!" I demand. "Nobody likes you!"

"That's it." Anger crosses Gideon's face. "You've gone too far."

All in one moment, he raises an arm, and a glint of light catches something under his jacket. I have no time to think- all I see is a number.

2.

"Gideon has the second book!" I blurt out.

"I knew it!" Dipper jumps out from behind the counter and tackles Gideon, followed by Mabel, Grenda, Candy, and finally, me.

"Get off!" Gideon commands. "All of you! Get off this instant!"

"I've got it!" Dipper says in triumph. He raises the book over his head so that Gideon can't reach it.

"What is going on?" Grenda asks, more confused than ever. "Why are those books so important?"

"That's none of your business!" He jumps to reach catch the book, and almost gets it, but realizes that he could use another method.

Blue energy surrounds the book. It's pulled safely back into his hands.

"I'll be taking that." He's almost out the door of the Shack when Mabel says, "Gideon, wait!"

He turns around hopefully, only to feel a tugging sensation around his neck.

"Where do you keep getting these, anyway?" Mabel tosses the amulet to Grenda, who breaks it in her hands. Teal smoke rises from the broken glass.

Without answering that question, Gideon runs away, holding the book, leaving so many more questions in my head, unanswered.

**I'm really sorry about this chapter, guys, because it's pretty much crap. But I had writers block for this story while writing this part, and I had no plan for this chapter, and I was writing it really really fast to get it done because of homework and stuff. So, I apologize, and the next will be better (I think) and this chapter is a little irrelevant to the rest of the story.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I can't believe this story is already at Chapter 10! I'm really thankful to all of you guys for supporting me, and all of that fluffy stuff. Anyway, to the story! ONWARDS, AOSHIMA!**

**The Gleeful Residence**

Gideon Gleeful sat at his desk, his eyes fixated on the half a dozen TV screens. Each of them showed a different angle of the inside, the outside, and the forest near The Mystery Shack.

"It doesn't seem very active..." He said to his self, monitoring the screens. Stan was ripping off tourists; Wendy was slacking off of her job; Soos was attempting to unclog a portable toilet; and Dipper, Mabel, and Autumn were goofing off in the attic.

"I can tell she's hiding something," Gideon scoffed, "But I can't tell what."

The strange twelve year old girl waved goodbye to the twins before walking out into the forest.

"I have to figure it out!" He yelled, smashing a wooden figure. Halfway through it, he stopped and gasped.

Onscreen, Autumn walked through the forest, passing behind a large tree. When she appeared back out, she looked completely different; she was wearing a toga-like dress instead of jeans and a t-shirt.

"What is this sorcery?" Gideon yelled. "Wait, did I just reference a meme?" He decided it didn't matter, and to keep watching the screen.

Autumn pointed to a tree nearby. The tree sprouted a large branch near the bottom that she climbed on to.

"Of course!" He screamed, flipping to a well-worn page in the back. "Autumn Davidson is a dryad! Now I just have to find her weakness..."

"Gideon!" Bud Gleeful walked up the stairs, his steps making sounds like earthquakes. "There's been screaming coming from your room. Are you alright?"

"Oh no!" Gideon quickly switched the screens to internet mode and turned around to cover the book.

The large man appeared in his doorway, a confused expression on his face.

"Hello, father." He said, attempting to sound sweet. "Everything is going just fine."

Bud leaned towards the computer, frowning.

"Hardcore Death 2?" He gestured to the screens. "Gideon! I thought you knew better than to play violent games like that. And what is in the corner?"

The small boy moved aside to reveal a security camera shot of Mabel Pines sitting on her bed.

"Gideon!" Bud scolded. "I thought we had an agreement that you wouldn't spy on the Pines anymore!"

"Shut up, old man!" He grasped the amulet that he made that morning. "I'm ten times as powerful as you!"

"I agree." Bud said calmly. "Put me down, please."

Quickly, his father left his room, and Gideon returned to his work.

"Dryad weaknesses." He read. "Though they have a natural fear of fire, that is not a definite way to get rid of them. In fact, it is not necessary that you do get rid of dryads because of their peaceful nature." He added some choice words. "Darn that Willow. I know you're writing this!"

The last sentence disappeared from the book, and Gideon continued reading.

"A surefire way to get rid of a dryad is, so to say, to destroy them at the root, pun intended. Cutting down their origin tree will weaken them to the point of control or..."

He didn't have to finish. He already knew what it meant, and a grin spread across his face.

-The Next Morning-

Gideon walked through the forest, his plan sitting clearly in his mind.

He knew plenty about the tree nymphs of this forest, and he knew when they woke up. He was correct when the young girl drifted sleepily out of a medium height tree.

Once she was out of sight, Gideon crept up to the tree, his hand reaching towards a branch.

Swiftly, he plucked off a clump of bright green leaves, knowing the influence it was having.

He repeated the picking a few more times, and when he had a rush of euphoria, he snapped a small twig off.

**Autumn POV**

I duck to avoid another of Dipper's missed shots. It bounces off of the walls a few times and makes its way out of the door, hitting Soos.

"Sorry, Soos!" Dipper calls.

"No problem, dood!" He keeps walking.

"My turn!" Mabel swings the club hard and hits an award-worthy put off of the nightstand, flying around the room almost like Dipper's, over my head, and into the hole.

"Yes!" She screams.

"Ow!" I feel a bang in my stomach.

"Oops!" Mabel puts down her putter. "Sorry, Autumn. I didn't mean to hit you."

"It's not you." My face starts to go pale. "Something inside of me just really hurts."

"And it just started randomly like that?" Dipper asks. He asks weird questions sometimes.

"Yeah." I feel something almost like a huge snap and yelp.

"What's wrong with you?" Mabel asks. "Was there something bad in the food Stan gave us? Wait! I- I-" She squirts a can of Silly String at Dipper.

"That was funny the first time, Mabel." He scoffs. "But not now."

"I know." I clutch my stomach, feeling cold sweat drip down my face. "Guys..." I look up. "I think I'm pregnant."

"Okay, stop cracking jokes, and let's actually figure this out." Dipper flips open his book.

I groan and roll over.

"I have it." Dipper reads off. "You can be damaged 'at the roots'. And I think I know who's doing it."


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for not updating, guys; I had tech week at my theater, and I had absolutely no time to write.**

**Anyway, enough about me. Let's see what's happening to Autumn...**

**Autumn POV**

"Gideon!" Mabel yells, banging on the door. "Open up!"

After a second, the door opens. I have to look down slightly to see Gideon, grinning widely.

"Why, Mabel!" He says. "To what do I owe this delight?"

"Cut the act, Gideon." Dipper crosses his arms. "We know what you're up to."

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you're talking about." Gideon acts baffled. I swear that when he sees me, his grin widens.

"You better stop." Mabel pulls the sleeve of her sweater down. "Whatever you're doing, you better stop it!"

"Yeah." I choke out, doubled over. "You...you better...uh..."

Gideon chuckles. There's an evil tone in there somewhere.

"Now, if you'll excuse me..." He slams the door. I can hear him running upstairs inside.

"Great." Mabel sighs. "We got no information. Now what?"

"I know where we need to go." Dipper announces. "And I think Autumn knows, too."

I'll be the one to tell you that my brain isn't exactly functioning properly right now; it's the dizziness, or the lack of air, or something like that. But I could tell what the younger twin was talking about, and I could tell that there was something wrong with that plan.

"You're talking about my tree, right?"

He nods. "If you feel as bad as you look right now-"

"Hey!" A glare, but let it go. It's not like I really care about how I look, and if what he just said is true, then I probably look like the Grim Reaper fell out of bed, woke up, and stabbed himself with that staff thing that he carries around.

Now that I think about it, that guy Robbie looks kind of like the grim reaper, with that hoodie and stuff. I picture him actually trying to look serious instead of just stupid like he normally does. I can't help but laugh.

Dipper's stare shoots daggers at me.

I clear my throat, as if preparing to get serious again. "Right. The plan. Got it."

"So we just need to check out your tree. Just to see how bad it really is."

"We get to see your tree?" Mabel's eyes widen. "Oh my gosh! That's going to be so awesome!"

"The only problem is how we get in." Dipper begins to pace, chewing on the cap of a marker. "The forcefield wouldn't let us see the entrance last time, let alone get through it."

"Never fear." I raise my arm dramatically, but quickly pull it back down because of the strain. "I have a plan."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Is this really necessary?" Dipper fumes.

Both of the twins are wrapped in purpled-flowered vines. I had them stand still so I could use my plant magic to cover them in spiraling leaves. It made my stomach hurt like crazy, but it was the only way to get them inside the clearing with me.

"Yes." I answer him, switching into full form. "It is absolutely, totally, one-hundred percent necessary."

Dipper continues to fuss and fidget, while Mabel spins around giggling.

"I'm a plant creature!" She turns to see my unamused expression. "Oops. Sorry."

"No problem."

"Do you think it will work?" Dipper questions.

"Definitely." I smile. "The forcefield won't be able to detect the fact that you're human. It'll be too distracted with the plants."

"I guess that makes enough sense." He pulls out his book and flips through the pages.

"Then let's get going."

With a bit of struggle, Dipper and Mabel make it through the boundary.

We walk for a few minutes until I find the spot that I go to every night.

I gasp.

"This is the place?" Mabel looks confused.

The tree is wrecked. Branches are snapped, leaves are missing, it just looks like a hurricane hit it.

"What...happened?" Dipper inspects it.

"Gideon happened." I frown. "We need to stop him."

"Gideon's pretty powerful." He reminds me. "We'll need help."

"We?"

"Yes." He smiles. "We got you into this with Gideon. We're in this together, and we're helping you get out."

**The next few chapters are going to be really awesome, guys. I think there'll be 2-4 left; that'll make this my first completed fic :D **

**Anyway, see you next week!**

**And yes, Riley, bad reviews FTW.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Even though I said that this story takes place after Summerween, I'm changing that. It'll be after Boyz Crazy. It doesn't matter, except for interactions between Dipper and Wendy.**

**This isn't a Dipper/Wendy fic, though. By now, you should be able to tell that this isn't a ship fic at all.**

"I've got this figured out." Dipper lays down a piece of paper in front of Mabel and I. "These are all of the possible allies we could make."

"Dip, you're taking it too far." Mabel rolls her eyes. "I thought you realized that you shouldn't use the complicated listy-thingies."

"It's not that complicated." I read over the list. "It'll help. Thanks, Dipper."

He looks triumphantly at Mabel, who crosses her arms.

"Let's get started." Dipper stuffs his book and my book into my bag and runs out of the door.

Mabel walks happily behind him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The first ally that we try to recruit sits in the living room, wearing nothing but underwear.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel yells, waking him up.

"Don't take the money!" He screams, then blinks. "Oh, hey kids. Why did you wake me up?"

"We need your help." Dipper says seriously.

"I'm not helping you unless-"

"You get to humiliate Gideon!" Mabel assures him sweetly.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" He stands up and rushes to throw on a pair of pants. "Let's go."

"Not yet, Stan." The twins attempt to pin him down in an awkward fashion that makes me laugh. "We need more people."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"For the last time, sir, Stan marked the prices up." Wendy claims. "A bottle of water costs five bucks now."

"This is ridiculous!" Some tourist protests. He stomps out of the door.

"The prices aren't really that high, are they?" I ask, walking over to the front desk.

"Nope." She laughs. "Sometimes you just need something entertaining to do around here."

"If you have nothing to do, we could really use your help."

"We?" Her eyebrows shoot up. I step aside to reveal Mabel grinning and waving.

"Sure." Wendy shrugs. "I'll help you two."

"It's…not just the two of us." Mabel cringes. "Come on out, broseph."

Dipper nervously walks out from behind the 'employees only' door. Wendy immediately turns around and crosses her arms.

"Aw, Wendy…" Mabel sighs.

"I'm really sorry, okay?" Dipper says. "Really, _really_ sorry. I shouldn't have been like that in your time of need."

"Getting a little sappy." I elbow him. "And that's coming from a tree."

"This is no time for bad puns, Autumn." He whispers.

"Please, Wendy?" Mabel begs.

"You're not doing this for me." Dipper reminds her. "This is for Autumn. She needs all the help she can get."

"Gideon…destruction…tree…" I gasp. I break out into cold sweat again. My stomach feels like there's a nuclear bomb in it.

"See?" Mabel says. "Please, please, please help us?"

Wendy slowly turns around. "Fine. I'll help you." She points to Dipper. "But just for now. I'm still not forgiving you for what you did."

"That's okay." He nods. "We'll tell you when we need you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Soos!" Mabel yells, plugging her nose from the smell of the portable toilets. "Will you help us with something?"

"You got it, doods!" He screams back.

Dipper checks off his name of the clipboard.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Alright." We all collapse in the attic. "I think we have enough reinforcement."

"Let's check." I grab the clipboard from Dipper's hands. On it is a list of the people (er, they're mostly people) who agreed to help fend off Gideon.

Stan

Wendy

Soos

Manly Dan

Gnomes

Old Man McGucket/The Gobblewonker/Various Automatons

Convenience Store Ghosts

Clones

Quentin Trembley

Rumble McSkirmish

Mermando & Various Merfolk

"I think we're good." Dipper nods.

"It doesn't even matter if we're getting all this help!" Mabel smiles. "I get to see Mermando again!"

"And I do get to be around intelligent people again." Dipper admits. "I felt bad about Tyrone's death."

"Let's get ready, guys." I clap. "Time to start a revolution."

**Three (I think) chapters after this. Somehow they got all of those enemies from older episodes to help them. I was going to write how they did it, but I decided I haven't updated in so long, you guys could use this chapter. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Why, hello, lovely readers! I am extremely sorry for the wait; school ended, I went to camp, swim team (blech) etc. I have a life (er, sort of). And of course I had to work on original stuff, watch TV, see Equestria Girls, and draw, but I have been working on this. I'm seriously really sorry; this story has been on more hiatus than Gravity Falls itself. **

**Also, 30 reviews, you guys! I love you guys so much! I shall repay you by updating this story on the correct time. 2 chapters left after this one.**

**Welp, here you go. Chapter 13.**

Gideon Gleeful walked prominently down the street. He knew where he was going, and he knew what was going on with the Pines twins.

Several tourists tried to stop him and try to get autographs and pictures, but he ignored them and walked past. He had no need for these townspeople.

The short boy marched up the steps of the Northwest Manor.

Mumbling, he said, "This better work. I would never come here otherwise."

He struggled a little jumping high enough to ring the doorbell. It was at least four feet up and caused Gideon to rumple his mass of hair.

The boy squeezed his fists, his face scrunching with rage. He almost crumpled the picture he was holding before he calmed himself.

A tall butler opened the door.

"May I help-" he began, before realizing who was at the door. His eyes widened. "You!"

"Yes, me." He winked. "Now, may I speak to Pacifica Northwest? I've a business proposal that I believe she will find…intriguing."

"Why, of course!" The man stepped aside. "Mr. Gideon, I'm a fan of your-"

"Yes, everyone is." He walked past the butler, making his way to the mansion's living room.

Pacifica was sitting on a pristine white couch, half-heartedly watching a talk show.

_"Gurl! Why you ackin' so cray-cray?"_ The television blared.

Gideon stood behind the couch for a few minutes before clearing his throat. Pacifica turned around, annoyed.

"And who are you?" She asks while checking her nails. The pink polish was perfect, but she still seemed agitated with it.

"I am Gideon Gleeful, town psychic!" He was surprised that she didn't know who he was, or she hadn't seen any of the massive billboards downtown. "Surely you've been to one of my shows?"

"Never heard of you."

His demeanor faltered for a second. He could feel his face turning red and attempted to stop it by taking a deep breath. He straightened up and said, "Well, I have an offer for you."

"If you're trying to bribe me, don't bother." She rolled her eyes. "I could buy your family and pawn them off."

"No, no." Gideon shook her head. "I simply need some of your help."

"Whatever." The blonde girl turned back to the TV.

"What if I told you," he smiled slyly, "that this help would give you revenge on the Pines twins?"

Pacifica straightened up.

"I'm listening."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It took a while for Gideon Gleeful to reach to the caves outside of town. He went alone by foot, and everybody who lives in Gravity Falls knows that Gideon can't run more than ten feet before that albino-esque skin turns the color of a tomato.

But only a few minutes after noon, the psychic arrived. He wiped a trickle of sweat off of his wide forehead as he reached the entrance.

The noise was almost unbearable; it pounded against Gideon's eardrums. Rock music blasted, along with screams of victory and bangs of pool balls.

Everything went silent as soon as he walked through the door. Fists froze, mouths closed, sticks became still.

Leaderaur the manotaur stepped forward. "Who goes there?"

"I am Gideon Gleeful." The boy announced. "And I would like your assistance."

"What makes you think that you are worthy?" The apparent leader asked.

"He barely seems like a man!" Another one yelled.

"You barely seem like a man!" A third manotaur countered. They both fell to the ground in a fit of punches and screaming.

Gideon gave little though to the fight; he stayed calm and pulled out a picture from his jacket.

"I believe you would like to get revenge on this boy."

When the tall black bull-man saw the photo, his face twisted into pure anger.

"How could we assist you?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The moon was rising in the sky.

A waxing crescent.

Perfect.

Gideon entered the garage unnoticed. Because nobody wanted to buy the wax figures, the place went out of business years ago. Just as he walked in, the models began to come to life.

They were exact copies of the ones in the Mystery Shack; upon closer inspection, they were made less carefully, with lopsided eyes and bumpy arms.

Sherlock Holmes lowered his magnifying glass and turned towards the boy.

"Who are you?"

"Well, that doesn't matter now, does it?" Gideon chuckled. "But I do know someone that you know. Your souls are passed through each other, yes? Along with your memories?"

"Yes." The detective answered skeptically.

"Then you know the Pines."

"The Pines!" Sherlock remarks angrily. "Those blasted twins nearly destroyed my kind!"

Gideon's face twisted into an eerie grin. "Then I have an offer for you."

**Autumn POV**

The attic is pretty much in chaos, but everyone seems happy with how things are working out.

"Let's get things straight." Dipper confirms to a group of clones. "You're Tyrone, you're Orion, you're…"

Meanwhile, a group of Mabel clones are having an annoying-noises competition with Quentin Trembley, Rumble McSkirmish is having a scream war with Manly Dan (Wendy is filming it), the gnomes are chasing around the original Mabel, Mermando is sitting in a kiddie pool (trying to ward the gnomes away from Mabel), and so on.

"Alright, everyone!" I step onto Dipper's bed while he shoots me a look about messing up his meticulously-made sheets. "Settle down; we need to make a plan."

"Already done." Dipper hand me a clipboard from his vest.

I read it, a confused look crossing my face. "'_I am pretending to write something down'_?"

Dipper blushes, looking at Wendy sheepishly. "Turn the page." He mutters through a frozen face.

"Oh! Right." I laugh. The next page covers a full plan involving all of our allies.

"McGucket, you and you're automatons will be running the front line."

"Hoo-ee!" He cackles.

"Stan, Soos, and Manly Dan will run the automatons." I mutter under my breath, "Not sure if that's such a good idea."

"Yeah!" Dan punches the air.

"Dipper and Mabel clones numbers 2 through 6, you'll patrol the forest areas with Wendy."

"Oh, god," she breathes.

"The rest of the clones will be second in command after the automatons." I shake my head. "Who know what kind of reinforcement Gideon is going to have."

"It's good we have all these preparations." Dipper nods. "He could have the entire Southern hemisphere working for him."

"Exactly." I agree. "Rumble McSkirmish and ghosts, you'll patrol your respective areas."

"I am! Will going to! Protect! This city town!" The fighter shouts, punching the air.

"Young folk." Pa shakes his head, followed by Ma.

"Moving on." I tap the clipboard. "Mermando, your family is at the lake, right?"

"Yes." He confirms. "We would do anything to protect Mabel and her beloved town." Mabel giggles.

Jeff the gnome turns bright red. "Oh yeah! Well…uh…we would…we would…"

"Stop before this gets violent!" Jeff tilts his head down and lowers his tiny fist. "Mermando, station your family around the lakes as lookouts. Gnomes, split up around the edges of town for the same reason." I bend down to Jeff. "Try not to let that one-" I point to Shmebulock, stumbling around the room, "ruin your cover."

"Right."

"And, finally," I finish, "Dipper, Mabel, Quentin Trembley, and I will patrol the downtown area."

"Marvelous work, young filly!" Our 8 ½ president yells, running around.

"…Okay. Let's get going." I wince, feeling a pang on my arm. "We don't know when it's all going to begin."


	14. Chapter 14

**Why, hello! This is crazyguitargirl, back on Saturday instead of Tuesday. I'm sorry about that, but it's because of my theater camp. I've been going to this place near my house from 10 AM to 6 PM, and then I have to practice lines, and dancing, and guitar, and I went to the Tiger's game on Wednesday. Sorry to keep you waiting. This is part 1 of a 2-part climax. Chapter 16 will be an ending.**

**This is the farthest I've ever got writing a story, fanfiction or not, so I've never gotten to an epic-battle scene (that's mostly the next chapter, anyway). Excuse me if it's not the best, but I'm pretty happy with it.**

**Wheeeee, so I give to you, Chapter 14 of Autumn. It's a long one.**

**Autumn POV**

"Megaphones are working, the robotic army is running smoothly, and we've got an all clear from every area." Dipper chews on the cap of his pen. Some of the blue ink leaks onto his tongue, and he winces. "So, I think we're doing well."

I look around, skeptical. "Mabel, can you check on Gideon's preparations? He should be near the tent."

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" She runs off with Trembley, waving her arms like an airplane.

"I don't know what her deal is." Dipper rolls his eyes. "The tent is that way."

He seems to be calm about the whole thing, which is very unlike him. I, on the other hand, am a nervous wreck. I'm pacing around, trying to get every detail right. I've heard about some of the things Gideon has done; how he tried to cut Dipper's tongue out, how he's taken Dipper and Mabel hostage, his multiple attempts at homicide. If that's day-to-day antics, then what will his final battle be?

"Well, what have the merfolk said about-"

Mabel runs past the two of us with our 'great leader' following behind her.

"I know it, don't say it, I'm on it!"

Dipper and I watch her run away in awkward silence. I clear my throat and continue.

"Anyway, what are the merfolk saying about the area?"

"We're getting nothing but clear signals."

This calms me down a little. "Okay. Can you get into your position? We might not have much time."

"Got it." Dipper skids off, nearly tripping over his own feet.

I start to run towards the other side of the town, still worried, and feel a hand on my shoulder stopping me.

"You can't go into this fight." Willow stands behind me, smiling. "Not without us."

Countless dryads pop out from behind the trees. I grin thankfully.

"Let's move!" She claps. "We don't want that Gideon to hurt our town." She leans down and whispers to me, "He's a fan of development. You know…forest clearing."

I nod. The whole army of dryads run off, rapidly growning a thick green wall of protection.

I smile. This good note distracts me from an exasperated and out of breath Mabel running towards me frantically.

"Autumn!" She yells. "Gideon has an army!"

"You're kidding." I say, deadpan.

"But really! He-"

"Calm down, Mabel. It doesn't matter, because we've got an army too-"

"But Gideon's army is serious! He's got these giant bull-man-type-thingies!"

"The manotaurs," I tap my fingers against my legs. "Dipper told me about them. We'll need beef jerky and footballs."

"And he has the wax figures!" She waves her arms around spastically. "And there awake in the day! Somehow!"

"It's _they're_, Mabel."

"I'm talking! You can't tell me what they're to use!"

I wave it off, looking around the town. McGucket's huge rusting robot nearly crushes town hall. Clones are avoiding water than the automatons knock out of the tower. Mabel is still babbling.

"Autumn! Are you listening?" She waves her arm in front of my face.

"Huh? I ask. The last few sentences before that were random gibberish flying out of her mouth.

"Defend...town…wax…Sherlock Holmes…coffee…amulets…books…Pacifica!"

"Okay, that makes enough sense, I guess." I shrug. "We'll need torches and hot water for the figures, and shiny objects for Pacifica." I start pacing. "As for the amulets…my book catches my eye. I flip through it and land on the pace about how to construct an amulet. "I don't think we have enough time…"

"_Autumnwatchout!_" Mabel grabs me by the arm and jerks me back violently. By about an inch, I avoid getting hit by a blue ball of fire.

Gideon overs in a blue cloud of energy ten feet above me, his eyes glowing white, lightning crackling in his fingers.

"It begins!" He announces angrily, the menacing words lampshaded by his non-serious accent.

He raises his arms. A whole army of sculptures and creatures rises up into the air with him.

"Sweet jesus…" Mabel gasps.

For a second, I really am stunned, and scared. With such a motivation, these creatures could do so much harm. But then I notice something strange.

"Why are their eyes…green?" What should be blank whites are now tinged to a sickly mint color with no pupils.

"The book should know, right?" She asks, almost pleading for me to see what's wrong with them.

"Uh, right. I'm on it." I flip through the pages again, this time finding a section on…mind control. "'One can seize control of the minds of many by conduction a spell and essentially zombifying them.

"What do we do?" She runs around, panicked.

I set one hand in front of me. When she runs past, she gets hit with it and stops.

"Well, we can't ignore the giant army!"

As we were talking, the zombified army has been coming closer to us. Even though they're moving slowly, some are only a foot or two away from me.

"Someone save us…!" I beg in a small voice.

Just then, a small rock is thrown into the crowd, distracting the closest zombies. They back up, staying still 25 feet away, moving forwards even slower than before. They're still surrounding us.

"Some of the lookouts said you might need some help." Dipper crosses his arm. "What is going on here?"

"Zombie army invasion." I shrug. "That's normal here, right?"

"Dipper's back!" Mabel yells. "I'm leaving now!"

She runs away, single handedly avoiding the army of clawing tourists.

"These aren't actual zombies, right?" Dipper asks.

I nod. "They're under mind control."

Dipper considers this.

I'm already hatching a plan.

"Zombies don't have a death perception, do they?"

"I don't think so-"

"That's close enough." I stand still with my eyes closed and my arms pointing up. I try to focus my mind on the one thing I need to do.

"Wait, what are you-"

"TREE POWERS ACTIVATE!"

I feel my limbs turning into wood, my legs forming together to form a trunk. My feet spiral out into roots. Dipper is hidden by hundreds of green leaves.

I'm not in Gravity Falls anymore. I'm gone; I'm being transported away. I'm in a state of perfect peace. Everything has disappeared.

And then- ow!- I'm back. My arms become soft an fleshy again. My legs separate. My hair turns from leaves to actual hair.

Dipper is clenching a fistful of dead leaves. "How did you do that?" He demands.

"I don't know!" I stare at my hands. I'm in full form now. "I didn't know I could do that!"

"Can you do it again?"

"I don't think so. My head hurts." I pace. The army has abandoned us, thinking that we were gone. "I didn't mean to do that, actually. I wanted to grow a giant beanstalk for us to climb up so we could hide at the top."

"What you did worked, though." He points out.

"Ha!" I pump my fist. "Take that, Tomska!"

Dipper's eyes dart around. "We've got to get out of here before-"

_Bang!_

A huge metallic leg crashes down in front of me, followed by a dozen others. They form a small ring around me.

I'm trapped.

On top of the metallic spider, Gideon grins.

"Going somewhere?"

**Yay for cliffhangers!**

** (don't worry, I'm updating soon)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Previously on Autumn:**

_"We don't have much time!"_

_ ._

_ "Gideon has an army!"_

_ ._

_ "You're not going into this battle. Not without us."_

_ ._

_ "It begins."_

_ ._

_ "…and they essentially are zombified."_

_ ._

_ "I didn't know I could do that!"_

_ ._

_ "Going somewhere?"_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Let me out of here!" I bang against the metal bars of my makeshift prison. I'm still on the street right in the middle of the town; how are Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland not noticing this?

"If you say so." He shrugs. Half of the bars lift, making spaces large enough for me to walk out through.

I'm running towards the twins when a blue ray of light catches my eye.

"But first," Gideon grins. "Why are you fighting this battle?"

"Because it's what's right." I clench my fists. "I got this town into this battle. I'm going to help them get out."

"But it's not your battle."

"Yes it is." I say through gritted teeth. "You made it my battle."

"You don't have to be the one who fights it." The blue light becomes brighter. I feel myself being drawn towards it.

"I…I have to…" My mind feels numb.

"No you don't." I'm almost immersed in the light now.

"No…no I don't…"

_It feels so good…_

Suddenly a cold splash of water hits me straight over the head.

"What?" I shiver.

Mabel grins and tosses an empty bucket aside.

"Thanks." I smile.

She looks up at Gideon, suddenly serious-looking. "You can't take her!"

"I don't need you're little friend!" Gideon cackles. "This is just a minor inconvenience."

His robotic machine walks away smoothly compared to ours, smashing a couple of benches in the process.

Mabel's brave face falters and then crumbles all together. She runs towards me and grabs me into an awkward hug. I stand stiffly. She pulls back.

"Are you okay?" She asks. "Your eyes were turning green and stuff. It was creepy."

"I'm fine." I assure her. "You guys snapped me out of it."

"Wait, that's it!" Dipper yells.

I look at him quizzically.

"Gideon was trying to get control of you through mind powers." He paces. "That's how he's controlling his army; through their minds. He must have made another amulet-"

"Right you are, Theodore!" Quentin Trembley walks over wearing half a pair of pants **(I'm sorry if he's OOC, guys).**

"I told you, my name's not Roderick, and it's not Theodore!" Dipper whines, his voice cracking.

"My apologies, Clarisse!"

Dipper looks unamused.

"Go on, Mr. President!" Mabel bows goofily, smiling again.

"That small man has strange brain powers!" Trembley declares. "He is controlling the society with his dragons and-"

"I'll take this." Dipper steps in front of him.

"Very well! I will go now!" He runs away, thrusting his knees backwards instead of forwards. "Remember, eat less fruit and jump over fish in races!"

"Huh." I stare. "That's actually the most normal thing I've ever heard him say."

Dipper clears his throat. "All of Gideon's power comes from his amulet. If we could get it away from him, he'd be at a loss."

"That's a good plan, but we'll need to do more." I point out. "Gideon could easily replace his amulet; it's not his source of power."

Mabel taps her chin. "So what you're saying is that can't just get the magical doohickey off of his neck, but we need to steal his creepy number 2 book with it?"

"Exactly." I nod.

"We'll need a plan." Dipper pulls a small notebook out of his vest, clicking a pen along with it.

"Ugh, more plans!" Mabel complains. "Can't we just have an epic battle sequence in the second to last chapter without it being all complicated and stuff?"

"Hang on." I turn out and tap the air, it shuddering slightly in a circle around my finger. "Is the fourth wall still there? Yeah? Okay."

"Uh, back to the story." Dipper scribbles something in his notebook. "I can see how this is going to work; we still have a leg up on Gideon."

"What is it?" I ponder. "He's got a giant robot- like us- and a whole army; which, er, we do too."

Dipper shakes his head. "But our army has control. They want to fight for us."

"So what you're saying is, we need everyone to work together?"

Mabel jumps around. "TOGETHER WE WILL FIGHT THE CREEPY STALKER!"

Dipper points to her. "Can you show enthusiasm like that?"

I shake my head.

"Never mind." He rips the page he was writing on out of the notebook and hands it to me. "So, here's the plan."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Ready?" I hold down the button on one of Stan's old walkie-talkies.

"Ready," comes a static filled reply.

"Ready." Another one follows.

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Then let's do this."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A giant metal spider rampages through the town, crushing some trees and lampposts in its path.

A short boy sits on top of it, laughing evilly at the damage. He's really enjoying it.

"Hey, Gideon!" Mabel runs into the street, stopping him in his path.

"Mabel, my apple cobbler!" He grins. "Hello!"

"Gideon!" A Mabel with the number 2 on her sweater steps out from behind a building. "Hi!"

"What in tarnation…?" He scratches his mountain of hair.

"Gideon!" Clones 3, 4, and 5 pop out, running towards him.

It seems like a good time. I focus my energy, this time actually growing a beanstalk, not turning into a tree.

Within a few seconds, I can see the book peeking out from behind Gideon's pale blue suit. He seems distracted enough; nine Mabels are standing in front of him, begging for his attention.

I reach forward, almost getting it, but when I'm just a few inches away, Gideon turns around, grinning still.

"Uh…hi?" I squeak.

"Hello." He laughs. "You really thought you could take hold of my book, and it would all be over?"

"Maybe?" My voice squeaks even more.

"It is over." He cackles. "It's all over!"

Gideon's eyes begin to glow bright blue, along with his amulet. The green plant below me begins to shrivel up.

I'm about to fall from my 20-foot post.

"Autumn, grab on!" Willow reaches her hand out and catches me just before I'm going to fall.

All of the rest of the dryads sprout beanstalks to get to the same height as us. Gnomes crawl up the vines and onto arms of the spider machine.

"Get off!" Gideon yells, swatting at the little men. They crawl all around him, trying to get the book out of his grasp.

From the water tower comes a large blast that Gideon avoids by conjuring an electric forcefield. Most of the gnomes are washed away, but they reform into a larger figure.

The clone army opens their umbrellas, helping water shoot back towards the robotic spider.

At the base, Rumble McSkirmish is punching at the legs, making dents, but nothing major enough for actual damage. He screams, "Robot fight attack!", the cue for the other robots to come out and fight.

Stan, Soos, and Dan have gotten pretty good at controlling their respective machines. They skillfully avoid the beanstalks and walk towards the spider. While small arms try to pry the book away, Stan jumps out of his robot and onto Gideon's. The two engage in a full-on slap-fight, each trying not to fall out of the small seat.

"Give it to me, you little troll!" Stan cries.

"Never!" Gideon yells.

A floating blob of water blots out the sun from the downtown area, and- oh good lord- half a dozen merfolk hover in it, Mermando in front. For some reason, they attempt nothing except to thrust their hands into the action and try to get the book.

Everyone does their part in reaching and prying and thrusting arms out. But just as everything is at its peak, a single arm snatches the book away from its short keeper.

"You got it?" I yell upwards.

Dipper flashes a thumbs up, and silently climbs down on the ladder of vines.

"We've got it." He smiles, whispering. Pulling the third volume out from his vest, all three books get laid down to form a triangle.

They start to glow.

A pulsing gold light grows brighter as it continues to steadily increase the area it shines in. After three smaller pulses, it expands to cover the entire town in light.

As it passes Gideon, his amulet cracks, sending up a small puff of blue smoke. A look of realization crosses the young boy's face as he pats the area behind him to find the book missing.

With the destruction of the amulet, all of the controlled tourists stand up straight with a shock, eyes returning to normal. They look around, confused, and surprised to see their downtown covered in trees and robot parts.

Robot parts! Right. Gideon's robot collapses with him on top, it having been controlled by the amulet's magic. The boy lands upside down, his hair blocking his fall.

All of the people and creatures who were fighting for the book land on a soft, newly-conjured bed of grass which disappears almost as soon as it appeared.

The gold light disappears, quickly fixing all of the damage that had been spread through town, including the parts from the broken automaton.

Gideon lays on the street, curled up. His eyes widen when I walk over to him.

"This time, you don't have an upper hand." I cross my arms. "Any power you might have had control of is gone, because it never was yours in the first place."

"That's a lie!" He spits. "I'll always have power over you, and this town!"

"But that's just it." I kneel down. "This town has some crazy magic going on- I knew that since I got here. There's too much of it for anyone to control, and it can drive anyone mad to try to harness it alone." I gesture to everyone who had fought by my side for what is right. "This town is powerful, and it can't be stolen by one person. The secrets of Gravity Falls remain protected by its citizens."

"Your words mean nothing!" Gideon yells angrily. "I'm meant to control this town. I know more than you could imagine, and I have more power than you could ever possess."

"Keep telling yourself that." I roll my eyes, walking away.

"Aren't you going to fight back?" Dipper asks.

"Something tells me that it's not use." I say. "Besides, he doesn't have the book anymore. He's just some run-of-the-mill fake psychic."

"I'm just happy this is safe." Mabel surveys the town. It doesn't look like anything happened to it. "Let's head home."

**I want to thank you guys for everything. There's on chapter left of this story, and I'll go into more detail later. But I needed to say how happy I am with how my first story went. I know the battle scene was a little…underdone, but I'm glad you guys have stayed with my until now. The epilogue will be up on Tuesday.**

**Thank you.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm crying, guys. It's over; this is the last chapter. You guys are just amazing. Thank you for the kind reviews and PMs, and the fact that I got pretty much nothing but positive feedback on my first ever story. I'm thinking of doing an Ask Autumn story. What do you guys think?**

** July 3****rd**

"Ready?" Willow asks, standing tall.

I take in a shuddery breath. "I guess."

Even after the fight, my tree was still wrecked, even though virtually everything else was fixed. But there is a spell that can help return it to normal.

It takes a lot out of you, but I'm fine now.

I focus all of my energy into my head. My skin grows warm. In my head I picture the limbs rebuilding, the leaves thickening. It becoming exactly the same as it used to be.

I open my eyes to find myself glowing bright gold. I beam of light shoots out from the aura, and hits the tree.

I stumble backwards.

The world disappears.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After what seems like only a minute later, I reopen my eyes to find Willow looking over me, grinning.

"It worked!" She exclaims.

**July 4****th**

"Is this how you do this?" Stan fumbles with a pack of firecrackers. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Should I be worried?" I turn my head to face Dipper. "I think I should be worried."

Mabel laughs, slipping a life jacket over her red, white, and blue sweater.

I raise an eyebrow. "What are you laughing about?"

"Oh, nothing!" She giggles. "It's just that you said the same thing that Dipper said when we first got here."

"Huh." Funny how some things work like that.

I step into the cheap canoe sitting on the lake. Stan picked it up from the dumpster, probably. I laugh as Dipper struggles to pick up an oar.

"Give 'em to me." Mabel leans over to grab the paddle from him. The boat rocks a bit.

"I can do it!" He protests, pulling his oar back. The canoe is now swaying at an above average level.

"Watch out or the boat's going to-"

Suddenly, the canoe flips over. The lake water is cold, but not unpleasant for such a hot night.

It's peaceful, being underwater. I haven't been swimming in a long time; I've lost count of how many moves it's been since I last had a pool or lived near a lake.

I pull back up to the surface, sputtering for air.

"…capsize." I finish weakly.

Mabel pops out of the water and shakes her head around like a dog. Dipper follows a second later, wringing out his hat.

"Gee, thanks, Mabel." He says sarcastically.

"You're the one who was so insistent on rowing the boat." I counter.

"I could have handled it!"

"Guys!" Mabel pokes us, floating in the lake. "Look."

Up in the sky, the fireworks finally exploded. They make imperfect, beautiful circles.

"The best view, right?"

**August 12****th**

"So, what are we going to do with these?" Dipper stares at the three books laid down on the attic floor.

"Hide them," I suggest. "Stick them under your mattress. Never let them see the light of day. Never let Gideon find them."

"Good plan."

That night, Dipper, Mabel and I went back to the place where it all began. Book 3 was put back in the metal tree; Dipper had already read (and encountered) everything in it anyway.

Book 2 got a nice home in a hollowed-out boulder. It was put so high up, I doubt Gideon will have the physical strength to try to hike there.

Book 1 stayed with me. It'll be safe; it'll reside in Gravity Falls for as long as it can, near the others.

They sure won't be found by Gideon. Chances are, they won't be found by anyone. But when they do, they'll know that this is the beginning of everything they've got to learn.

They'll know that this is the beginning of their adventure.

**August 30****th**

"Do you really have to go?" I ask the twins.

Both of them nod. Mabel awkwardly pokes at the ground with her foot.

"You'll come back, right?"

"Hopefully." Dipper avoids looking up. "Probably not for the whole summer, though. But…we're going to come back here. We're going to see you again. We're going to continue the adventure. No matter what."

"Let's not get all sappy!" Mabel shakes her hands and sticks her tongue out. It's enough to make both of us crack up.

I'll miss them.

"Group hug?" I offer.

"One step better." Mabel rifles through her bag and pulls out a cheap pink camera. "Group photo!"

"Of course," Dipper sighs like he's heard her next sentence a million times before. "Because you'd never miss a-"

"Scrapbook-itunity!"

It takes a few minutes, but we manage to agree on a pose and Mabel snaps the picture. It comes out slightly blurred.

"One more!" She insists. "I'd make copies of this one, but…"

"That's a different story." Dipper cuts her off.

One more picture is taken, but Mabel can't help it and starts making ridiculous faces, and then I start, and Dipper plays the straight man **(comedy term) **and refuses.

A beaten-up old bus comes to a screeching halt in front of the Mystery Shack.

"I guess this is goodbye, then." I break the silence that had come over us.

"Not forever." Mabel smiles.

"It's not even you." Dipper jokes. "We wouldn't be able to leave the town."

I punch him lightly, laughing. "Okay, then. I'll see you…and thank you. For everything."

The twins step on to the empty bus, growing smaller in the distance before vanishing behind a cluster of trees.

But nothing's ever over, right? This is just the beginning.

**8/29/13**


End file.
